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Real time trip report London and Paris

We are going to London and Paris. We've benefited from much advice from fodorite friends in DC and here and some research. For example, I know to get from Heathrow to Bloomsbury we take the Piccadilly underground. We'll need an ATM and a fare card. We got tickets 3 days later on the Eurostar to Paris, and an apt in the 15th. We got tkts to the top of the Eiffel Tower on April 1st at 9:30am. We're sitting in the united club at Dulles eating free crackers because we signed up for a united credit card. Tomorrow our son, who is in school in London, will show us stuff. But I'll do whatever you European fodorites think I should do. Please tell us fun cool cheap stuff to do. You are our higher power. Thanks.

We have arrived in Great Britain, England, the United Kingdom, and London.

The united club at Dulles was quite exciting, a free one time thing. We got two free wines and a bunch of nuts. We were in boarding group two, thanks again to the credit card, and got to go on the plane before some other pathetic creatures of lesser rank. It was difficult not to sneer. The plane had enough empty seats that each of us had a row of three empty seats to sleep in.

We took the Piccadilly line right to st pancras (a cool looking building) and walked to the crescent hotel where our rooms aren't ready and we'll meet ds#2 in a little while. There are tennis courts and daffodils in the park (Cartwright gardens) next door. Russel Square seems nice and has another cool looking building. Cars go very fast here and in every which way so it's tricky crossing the street.

We are a little sleepy and it's cold here. People speak with a British accent, and they say "take away" instead of "carry out". I hope these keen and insightful observations will help future travelers to this country.

We did it (in the cold) and it was fun... or send your son to do it and wait with a beer at the bottom. A bit off the beaten track but we combined it with a trip to Greenwich and it is still one of those things that the kids talk about...

You made it with a row of seats to yourself no less. As you know it snowed in DC yesterday and it's freezing here today, so don't feel badly about the cold. Looking forward to hearing about your exploits as time permits. As Tdudette said, you always have such a "special take on life." While I know you practiced French, did you take lessons in British English??? Have a jolly ole time in London.

We had a free full English breakfast this morning at our Crescent Hotel and then figured out how to take the Barclay Bikes out of the rental thingies and ride to DS's room on high Holborn where I almost beat him at ping pong but didn't because I've never mastered the top spin slam although my serve is pretty good.

Then the three of us rode Barclay bikes to the Tate modern, took a tour (Rothko liked Turner but did not want his painting hanging in the dining room of the four seasons hotel so he donated them to the Tate modern, which is in a converted power plant, across the millennium bridge, a walkway over the Thames. I suppose all of you know it's pronounced Tems. Even I knew that.

Then we all had lunch at Borough Market, a big fresh food market near the Tate (I had a prawn taco) and then DS and DW had high tea at Delaunay restaurant and I went back to the Tate for a tour of Energy and Process modern art (gerhard richter put together 11 panes of glass and that reminds people of 4 minutes and 33 seconds of silence which I first heard about right here on fodor's). Then I biked all the way back to our hotel in Bloomsbury.

So, visitors to London, I would suggest renting the bikes which are fun to ride but be careful because, as I said before, traffic comes from every which way here (your credit card will work fine in the rental bike machine. It's 2 pounds for 24 hours, and then free for station to station rides of less than 30 minutes). Also, if you can, go to the Tate.

We like our hotel, but there are plenty of hotels on London and why should you listen to us. But it's quiet and not too far from St Pancras (don't pronounce this like the organ in your body) and the Rosetta Stone (useful for learning Egyptian).

I wanted to go to Other Desert Cities which is more classy than Once but DS wants to go to Once so I'm not going to complain, even if I already saw the movie, which I did like a lot. It could be my unique take on life is really just long, poorly formed sentences.

I hope you all continue to have a wonderful time, sm! Thank you for including us in your trip. I always love hearing about what you are doing while it is happening, but agree w/St.Cirq that mainly you just enjoy yourselves.

You are so much braver than I could ever be with the bikes. Just crossing the street in any part of the UK is a bit of an exercise in terror for me. For whatever reason, I just cannot (!) figure out which way to look and even after I have looked every way, I still can be caught off-guard.

Yes, continue with your report. It is exactly the right length because it conveys enough information but doesn't make us feel as though you are wasting too much important vacation time to write it.

I am impressed that you used the Barclay bikes. Even though I have an annual subscription to the Vélib bikes in Paris, I just look at the Barclay bikes without using them because there are so few stations compared to Paris -- I would be terrified of not finding a place to leave the bike at my destination.

Enjoying your report keep it coming please. Can you mention other "funny" englishisms, is that a word,? I like to read what you think is different, being an English/Aussie myself I think they speak "normally"!

Enjoying your live travelogue.
That 'Borough Market-to-St. Pauls' walk, including the Tate and the M. Bridge is a favourite of mine as well. Another fav at the market is the cheese shop, with the great big cylinders of cheese on the shelves and window sills. And a pint at the Market Porter.

Was just thinking 'wish he tells us about their hotel' when a few lines later you did, and provided the link too, so thanks for reading my mind and doing that

London is wonderful, and so is Paris, Looking forward to more of your observations and adventures. Continue enjoying each day wherever you are.

We liked Once. Liked the movie, liked the play. Good seats in the second row! Great music, very sweet.

Thanks for your encouragement and suggestions. However, we didn't climb the o2 or buy ginger fudge and for the second time we missed the changing of the guards. The first time in London was about 10 years ago when the kids were little. We were too late. We also missed the changing of the guards when we were in buenos aires.

This time we went down the 175 steps at Russell Square tube station, took the Picadilly line to Green Park, and arrived half an hour before The Change, again, too late.

People were everywhere. They have huge ornate back and gold gates to Buckingham Palace which are very nice but are closed, secured with a simple chain and a padlock. You can walk around them, but there were too many people.

I feel, due to the crowds, they should change The Guard more frequently. Maybe every 15 or 20 minutes. Or hire some private security firm like ADT and change them.

Despite the crowds we overheard a tour guide telling her people they were going to stand where there was nobody between them and the soldiers. So we followed her group at a discreet distance and after a while saw a marching band with big fur hats go by which was nice but not The Change we were expecting.

We kept on following the tour, pretending to just coincidentally being the same place they were, for several blocks, stopping each time they did, but at some remove, so they wouldn't suspect us as latcher-oners. After a while we lost them. Too much remove.

Somehow the leader who had been holding up a toy sword now was another leader holding up an umbrella. Somehow we had started following a new group. So we gave up, not knowing anything about the plans of this new group. This approach, while inexpensive, really is not an effective way to tour London because your feet still get tired and you can't hear anything the tour guide says.

Next we got on the tube to go to southwick, an interesting neighborhood our son told DW about. We asked a number of British people how to get to southwick and none of them knew because, as it turns out, there is no southwick. Misunderstanding between DS and DW.

So we went to Camden town. Which is cool. Lots of little shops and trinkets and tatoo places by an old canal. But first I had to get a fare card with a pocket full of change which turned out not to be quite enough (each tube ride costs 4.70 pounds!) so I had to cancel the transaction, much to the polite consternation of the guy behind me, who DW said was grimacing and quietly slapping his forehead as the machine returned each of my coins one by one.

We're meeting DS tonight for dinner. We might get fish and chips. We're having a great time.

We'll be spending 3 days in London and 3-4 in Paris before heading to the south of France in the fall, so this is very timely for us! Though I guarantee we will NOT be riding the bikes in the city. Hmmmm. Come to think of it, I won't be getting DH on a bike in the countryside, either. Thanks for sharing.

Do you not have an Oyster card? It's 4.70 if you buy a single ticket, but nobody does that. Get an Oyster card, put some money on it, and your fares will be only 2.20. There's a daily price cap of maximum 8.40.

I love the way that you are seeing London, sm! Sorry about your missing the guard again. We too have eavesdropped on tours before but only for a few minutes at a time, as I lose interest quickly. I look forward to your future installments.

Next we got on the tube to go to southwick, an interesting neighborhood our son told DW about. We asked a number of British people how to get to southwick and none of them knew because, as it turns out, there is no southwick. Misunderstanding between DS and DW.>

you're right, there's no Southwick, but there is a Southwark, pronounced [something like] Suthuck. it's near Borough [pronounced buru] market. There is a cathedral there and you get there on the bus, train, or Tube.

When you were at the Tate was there still the Damien Hirst exhibition? Lots of interesting exhibits, like a raw cow's head covered with flies. And the butterfly exhibit where some of the "exhibit" escaped on people's clothes!!

You are brave folks indeed, santa. Are there bike lanes? And your regular credit card worked???? That adds to a discussion on another thread about cards with chip technology. So, it’s not the same in London?

There are bike lanes and quiet streets, so biking in London isn't as daring as you might think. It was a very easy ride from our BnB to the British museum and to our DS's room on high Holborn.

But that was then. This is now. We have arrived in the city of light! The train was very comfortable and fast. They got that high speed thing going very well here. And they have charging stations for electric cars. They have cheese stores and bakeries and butcher shops.

We took the 42 bus to rue du theatre. The lady who rents the apt is very nice, she took us on a stroll through the neighborhood to show us her favorite places and everybody says hello to her, and the apt is beautiful and it has two balconies and from the bedroom the Eiffel Tower seems like it is right next door and, you may not know this, it glitters for 5 minutes every hour (at night) on the hour. Really, it's just too cool. I'll try and include a link, but if you rent from her please be nice because she is a friend of a friend, but she said it was ok to tell you about the apt.

Here's just a little from the PDF. I'll try and send pictures later. You should ask her for more info, in my humble opinion.

I have one large queen bed (slightly larger than an American queen) and one double sleeper couch. There is also a single blow-up mattress, if needed.
The apartment is located on the French 5th (American 6th) floor of a brick and stone 1920’s Haussmann- style building with an old fashioned “birdcage” elevator. There are 2 apartments per floor. Mine is about 67 sq.meters (about 740 sq. feet). It has a double exposure, north and south. At night, you can watch the Eiffel Tower glitter from your bed!

Liz Shepard
87 rue du Théâtre
75015 Paris, France
Home phone from the states 011.33.1.45.78.02.44 Cell phone from the states 011.33.6.95.37.11.15 liz@sheparddesign.com

It's been glittering for many years now, but I first saw it in 2011 while out on a late night jog/run in the Champs de Mars area (it's base). I didn't know it did that, and was so taken by sudden surprise as I ran towards it, I almost ran full tilt into a tree. Not kidding.

Enjoy the City of Light - butchers, bakers, candlestick makers and everything.

A very good place to see the Eiffel Tower at night is from the right bank of the Seine. We came out of the restaurant in the 1st where we'd had supper, turned left to go for a post-prandial stroll, and there it was, glittering away.

Thanks for all your comments. That was a nice note Mathieu. AGM, thanks for warming up Paris for is. SW, today was edging nicely into spring. DW and I were married in Paris Virginia, a different kind of pretty from this Paris.

Today DS#1 arrived from Denver so we're all here. We went to a big fresh food market under the elevated train near our apt on rue theatre and bought chicken (the guy selling it explained what it was by clucking and waving his arms like chicken wings), potatoes and zucchini for dinner, walked under the Eiffel Tower to the seine and got 4 tkts to the hop on hop off boat.

I would advise you to consider carefully if you really want to hop off and hop on a lot. I suspect hopping on and off sounds like a better idea before than once in route. But maybe that's just me.

DW wanted to see Notre Dame so we hopped off (really very few people were actually hopping) and then we walked to the marais and bought falafel which is very filing and then we walked back to the river, 'hopped' on the boat, 'hopped' off back at the ET, and 'hopped' home, stopping to watch some spirited games of boule.

So that was today. I also signed up for the bikes for tonight, maybe a ride to the ET or one of the bridges. As Ann suggests, I think Paris is a nice place for a post-prandial stroll.

We got stuck waiting for HOHO at Notre Dame one time and ended up walking. Each bus was packed and the waiting crowd got larger! We tried it one more time in NYC and got stuck again. In theory, it's a good idea though, eh?

Thanks for the mind picture of the guy impersonating a chicken for you!

I think the municipal buses are ten times better for visiting Paris than the HOHO buses, but I fully understand that first time visitors sometimes need a service where they are sure that they will never get lost. Waiting for those HOHO buses and dealing with them being overcrowded is part of the price that you have to pay.

Tdude, I like the HOHO acronym. More than the HOHOing. Kerouac, the 42 bus from gar du nord to rue theatre was fun, and I know you and others like the 69 bus.

Today we did the velib bike thing. You can sign up online, your us credit card won't work at the station. Once you sign up on line and get an id number and pin you can take out a bike free for trips of less than a half hour from station to station.

Our problem was we biked from near the Eiffel Tower to museum jeu de Paume and there were no empty spaces at the bike stations near the museum and it took a long time to find a space to leave the bike, and a long walk, and then the museum was closed. My Fodors pre-trip advisors would be disappointed that we didn't know that. We have planning issues.

So we had a ham and cheese crepe in the tulleries and then walked to st chapel to meet our tour guide who actually had told us to meet her at st Germain des pres metro, so that took a while to get sorted out, but we eventually had a lovely tour of the area around the ministry of justice, Notre dame (the devils are on Jesus's left side), stopped for ice cream at berthillion, falafel in Maris (again), and sat for a while in the Place des Vosges.

Then the three wimps in my family took the metro back to the apt while I took the velib bike, which turned out to be about 4,000 miles, but was just so incredibly fun, hurtling along the seine on the bike lane, being aware of traffic and buses and lights and where you are, on the streets of Paris, heading for the Eiffel Tower in the distance, around a bend in the river.

Man, that's just a kick and a half. I returned the bike at a station near the apt, stopped at a grocery for spaghetti and salad for dinner, and after dinner we went out for a brownie and whipped cream for dessert.

Now back at home, listening to rather nice music the kids play on spotify, waiting for the tower to glitter.

Important to know: if you check into a Vélib station with no free space, the machine will give you an extra 15 minutes to get to another station (and will tell you which stations have space). Naturally, every person with a bike has to check into the machine individually.

Thanks for the info on bike returns. That's the way it worked in London but I forgot to do it here. The bike apps are useful.

Tdude, we didn't get in to see st chappel. We are pretty amateur tourists, despite all the help you, yes, and st_cirq gave us. We'll try for d'orsay tomorrow.

Today we took an elevator at 9:30 to the top of the Eiffel Tower. Then walked and metro to arc de triomphe then metro home for lunch and nap.

Then we biked to Luxembourg garden but got lost and many people tried to help us but we ended up returning bikes to a station and taking the metro.

Guys were sailing little radio controlled sailboats in the pond. Everybody was enjoying the warm weather. Then we saw saint suplice and then had an incredibly expensive beer at deux magot which I assume does not mean two maggots. There are statues of two wise men inside. Maybe it's two maggi. Whatever.

Then metro home where we are cooking fish for dinner, and I am inspired to write my trip report in a clean, well lighted place. Nice French doors and a little balcony.

We have snagged tickets for the Orsay from the vendor on the steps just below the long lines…I was afraid it was a scam, but it was fine and we walked around the other side and right in. Felt like you did, looking at the other pathetic creatures waiting in line.

Loving this. Hate deux Magots, though. I had a splenetic verbal exchange with a waiter there on one of my first Paris GTGs involving me needing to order something small and fast, as I had a train to catch. The waiter suggested I should have booked a later train or not sat down to order. Excuse-moi? You can't bring a small salad in under a half-hour? Pffff....It's a classic experience, though.

Thanks again for your comments and suggestions. I agree, all that tradition and 'je ne sais quoi' doesn't come cheap at the deux magot. The waiters are handsome, but they don't gush.

We got to the musee d'orsay today, but it wasn't easy. Anticipating long lines, I cleverly secured tickets this morning online, but needed a way to print them, which was accomplished only through visits to a neighborhood Internet cafe, a Starbucks, a long walk along Emile Zola, and another Internet cafe.

DW finally found the hidden ticket printing Internet cafe (taxi phone) on the other side of a big circle and, as a consequence, became Group Leader for a while until the burden of leadership became too much for her and ds#1 took over. I've been Group Leader and it's not as much fun as you might think.

Then bikes to D'orsay where I was sorry to see there was no line. But we took our printed tickets to reserved entrance c and felt somewhat special, even if there was nobody in long lines there (les sans culottes) to sneer at.

D'orsay is spectacular. I bought a pencil and pad of paper and sketched because it helps me see what's there. Like taking notes at a lecture.

And the museum space is wonderful, so open, full of light and movement. Like the east wing of the national gallery in DC, but more so. You can see Montmartre through the big clock on the 5th floor, and there are big leather sculptures there you can rest in. I spent the whole afternoon wandering, sketching, sitting and resting. Others in the family went to the l'orangie to see water lillies. I biked home when the d'orsay closed at 5:30.

Slight problem earlier with ds#1 returning the bike improperly, requiring a phone call to Velib and a ride back to the bike station. But ds#1 fixed the problem and I didn't lose my €150 deposit. You gotta see the green light when you put the bike back.

We went to dinner at a very nice Moroccan restaurant (les saveurs du maroc) on rue rouelle, and now we're home for Eiffel Tower glitter and bed. At 1 o'clock they have the last glitter of the night and then they turn the lights off. Maybe tonight I'll be asleep by then.

Santamonica, you and everyone else must have legs of steel with all the biking you're doing. Good for you. Such a great way to connect yourself to a city while experiencing it. For me as you might guess, it's running in a city. My running gear is packed for every trip, takes no extra space and lets me see places and things I'd not otherwise encounter.

On the afternoon of my planned visit to the D'Orsay, I exited the Metro to placard wielding protesters and police. There was a huge general protest in the area (electricians, I think) and the Musee was closed for security reasons. Major disappointment, but as if in attempt to lift my spirits, I was treated to another sought-after tourist experience: the 'gold-ring' event, right outside the D'Orsay. I was quite familiar with the procedure having read about it here countless times and was howling on the inside while the whole charade played out.

If you've the time or inclination for another (but unusual) museum, I'd recommend the Musee Nissim de Camondo. It's in the 8th, in a stately house and specialises in the decorative arts. I enjoyed my couple of hours there and got some cool pictures.

One more day. Sheesh. Marmottan and Camando are both worthy contenders for last day visits, and I haven't seen the water lillies yet. And we gotta pack, buy little gifties, and clean the apt. Why exactly must all good things come to an end?

Today we went to the Rodin museum (bikes again!), where we felt sorry for The Burghers of Calais, envious of The Lovers, and thought about The Thinker. Rodin is buried under The Thinker.

Then we took the metro to Sacre Coeur, climbing many, many stairs and having a nice quiet lunch on the way (there are a lot of tourists in Paris so this quiet cafe DW found on fodor's is special).

Then back to the apt for a short rest before I decided to leave my tired wimpy family and look for adventure. DW said she'd fix me a salad for dinner when I got back, but she thought I was just going out so I could have something interesting to talk about in my trip report. She is such a kidder.

Anyway, I saw yellow posters in the metro for a concert tonight at St. Chappel and decided to try it. So all by myself I took the 10 line to Odeon, couldn't figure out how to transfer to the 4 line, surfaced, and tried to ask several people how to get to St Chapelle.

I think the problem was I need a haircut and my 'pardon' accent has gotten really good and people think I'm a homeless guy and don't want to talk to me. It's like they think I've just found a gold coin. Maybe I'll get a haircut.

So I asked a waiter, got directions, found a bike, and pedaled over the river to the Cite and St Chapelle, where I saw I could buy a ticket to the concert (Vivaldi, 4 seasons, harpsichord, 2 violas, 1 base, 2 violins, no drums) across the street at the tobac shop, which is what I did. €25. Arrive at 6:15 for 7:00 concert and you get a decent seat but you'll have to pay more to sit really close.

The concert was wonderful. Think 'A Late Quartet', add a couple more people, and there you have it. And the church is, uhm, divine. The walls are almost all windows, beautiful panels of stained glass dating from about 1250. It was wonderful to listen to beautiful music in such a beautiful place.

Then I biked home and ate my dinner. Now I have to do the dishes and go to bed.

Here's contact information for our guide who's a relative of a neighbor and very nice (Guides, and everything else, are pretty expensive in Paris).

When we went to St Chappelle we were staying round the corner so had no problem finding the entrance, but could we find the chappelle itself once we got in? no we could not. it must have taken us 10 mins to locate the entrance! but it was worth it, even though the stained glass didn't seem to me to be very different to that found in many UK cathedrals.

i''d have liked to have gone to a concert there though.

I can't promise you lillies in the Marmottan; the biggest ones are in the Orangerie I think:

Well, this is it. My last day. The end of the live action trip report. You must be somewhat relieved.

Last night the boys, young adults, went out clubbing with some friends. Ds#1 says he kissed a French girl. They came home and argued about whether they should have come home, so we wouldn't worry, or stayed out longer to be edgy. I moderated the late night discussion in a mature and thoughtful manner.

Today, faced with a difficult decision, we went to the Musée Marmottan Monet and saw water lillies and Japanese bridges and Berthe Morisot, a bunch of other impressionists and many, many French people. It's a nice museum and bigger than you think.

So, any of you who may be ploughing through this trip report in hopes of learning something useful, I would suggest going to this museum despite other people bring there, although we didn't find the nearby park that ann mentioned. The water lillies are in the basement.

We walked and biked to someplace for lunch, where a ham sandwich and two cokes cost $24, and returned home to pack, straighten, and arrange a taxi tomorrow morning for 3 of us to CDG, which I'm hoping isn't that much more than what a bus/train for 3 to the airport would cost.

Ds#2 is taking a bus to Orly later in the day tomorrow and heading off on Ryan Air to other exciting places before retuning to school in London.

Tonight we went to Harry's Bar where Gershwin wrote American in Paris and we had various over-priced drinks and then back on the 8 line to dinner at piquet, a nice restaurant st cirq suggested. We had snails and pate for an appetizer.

When we get home I'll sort through the photos and post a link to them. In the meantime, thanks again for your interest, supportive comments, and very helpful suggestions.

Wonderful TR, santa. It was so smart (and, again, brave) of you all to get around on bikes. It sounded like a super trip and so nice to have your sons with you as well. That they worried about you worrying says lots of good things about them (and you and DW)!

Thanks again for your encouraging comments. I'm sorry it's taken me a while to add photos. I suppose there are many ways to feel old but I've found trying to figure out how to share photos is a definite winner in the how to feel old contest.

I've been working on this photo sharing for a couple days now. I used to do flicker, and I still have some photos somehow auto uploading there. I have picassa on my laptop and liked that too, but now, somehow, I couldn't recreate how I did it, I am in google plus, which has somehow automatically picked out some photo highlights of our trip to London and Paris and enhanced them, and elsewhere has added snow falling animation to any pictures that look like they have snow in them, which is nice, except they thought a beach scene in Puerto Rico was a snow scene, so now it's snowing animatedly in Puerto Rico.

But don't worry, Puerto Rico shouldn't be part of the pictures I'm showing to you. What I'm showing to you, I think, is a set of 51 pictures of London and Paris. I think google picked them somehow using the highlights feature. I'm really not sure. I'm beyond caring. This has been very difficult for me. Very time consuming. I haven't been able to keep up with the charges and counter-charges in the foderite lounge discussion of divine intervention.

There's no nudity in these pictures, aside maybe from a few statues. I hope you recognize places (St Pancras Hotel, British Museum, Millennium Bridge, bikes in Paris, Eiffel Tower, Rodin Museum, St Chappel, Notre Dame, etc) because I don't want to try adding captions or narration. Maybe next time. If I can remember my password.

Great set of pictures which show how much fun a family vacation can be. And, hey, you dressed like tourists, just like normal people should. I am constantly exasperated with the number of people who feel they have to get a special wardrobe to visit Europe so that they will "fit in."

Excellent pics Santamonica. A happy family enjoying great times together. Good for you all !
I enjoyed recognising all the spots I remembered from your blog as well as my own recent visits to Paris and London. Thank you for sharing. (BTW it's a group of 202 photos.)